Mom caught stealing from Walmart charged with child neglect, cops say

A woman faces robbery and child neglect charges after she and a friend were caught stealing from an Orange County Walmart and got into a scuffle with the store's security officers, an arrest report states.

The report states that 21-year-old Megan Kelley and 25-year-old Jodie Willis were spotted by security at the Colonial Drive store slipping cosmetics into a tan purse in their shopping cart on Thursday.

Also in the cart, the report states, was a car seat containing Kelley's child. The women paid for two bottles of soda at the checkout, store security later told investigators, but not the cosmetics.

Security confronted the women, the report states, and Willis tried to flee with the child seat. The officers said Kelley chased the other woman down and retrieved her child, before running into the parking lot.

Deputies say the pair struggled over the child, pulling the car seat back and forth. At one point, the report states, Willis swung the car seat "violently," causing the child "to be perpendicular to the ground."

Store security attempted to detain the women, the report states, but Willis lashed out, kicking a security officer in the groin and punching him in the face. The report states she also resisted an arresting deputy.

Willis was charged with strong-arm robbery, battery, child neglect, resisting an officer with violence and assault on a law enforcement officer, according to arresting documents.

Kelley faces charges of strong-arm robbery and child neglect. Both were booked into the Orange County Jail, where they remained on Friday. The child's father was called to the store to take custody.